


you weren't mine to lose

by singingaboutwishing



Series: he's her boss [1]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Season/Series 03 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27166588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singingaboutwishing/pseuds/singingaboutwishing
Summary: late hours? fine. constantly worrying about the white house? fine. being stupidly in love with joshua lyman? not fine. bad, teetering on the edge of disastrous.the companion piece todonnatella.
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Series: he's her boss [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982992
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	you weren't mine to lose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crystallineirises](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystallineirises/gifts).



> this story and its companion piece can be read in either order, though i did write this one first. it's completely up to you.

he’s her boss.

he’s her boss,  _ he’s her boss _ , he’s. her. boss.

josh must be actively trying to ruin her life, because for every time donna tells herself that, he smirks at her or calls her donnatella or says something ridiculous and it’s like she’s never heard those words before.

it’s the only thing that would ever make her consider quitting her job.

late hours? fine. constantly worrying about the white house? fine. being stupidly in love with joshua lyman? not fine. bad, teetering on the edge of disastrous.

she deals with it. she goes on dates. she emotionally invests herself in her roommate’s relationships and sam and diane on the  _ cheers _ reruns she watches to fall asleep.

she tries her damned hardest to remember those three little words.

still, she sees what could be.

a drink. a confession. a reciprocation. a sigh of relief. a smile.

an elegantly simple white dress. baby’s breath in a blonde half-up. an awestruck, dimpled grin. a black tux and a real bow tie. a promise. a kiss. a dance. a cake.

a positive pregnancy test. a doctor’s visit, then another, and another. a frantic midnight drive to the hospital. a beautiful baby.

a suburban three-bedroom. a series of family photos. a full house, then an empty one. a face full of lines. a second on the other pillow.

a life spent together. a life full of love.

donna sees these things, but then the more likely sequence of events flashes through her mind.

a drink. a confession. a reciprocation or a rejection. either way, a resignation letter. maybe two.

donna, for all of her bambi-esque naïveté, is not a stupid woman. she cannot be with josh while jed bartlet is still in office. maybe even after, depending on where they end up. she knows in her heart that any acknowledgement of mutual feelings at all would unleash hell (hell, of course, being the white house press corps and the republican party). 

_ the slimy politician and his skanky assistant _ is a story she’s heard too many times. she wouldn’t stand for the character assassination of either of them, especially because there wouldn’t be the slightest bit of truth to it. 

she encourages him to ask joey lucas out. she likes joey a lot, and besides, it’ll be easier to get over josh if he’s taken.

(she’ll hold this notion until he starts dating amy gardener and donna catches herself beginning to sow the tiniest seeds of bitterness)

she latches onto the idea of  _ joshua and josephine lucas-lyman. _ they’d be cute. they’d be annoyingly endearing, actually. they’d bicker a lot, but in a fun way. they’d be everyone’s favorite couple, that joshua and donnate—

no.

joshua and josephine.

josh and joey.

he’s her boss.

he’s her boss.

he’s her boss.

she clucks at him. he goes to joey’s hotel room. donna sits on the bed, heart cracking as she frantically tries to wind scotch tape around it.

she feels like she’s losing him, but how can she lose someone she never really had?

josh is off-limits, she reminds herself. being with him is not an option. he is her friend and nothing,  _ nothing _ more. he isn’t hers to love. he isn’t hers to lose.

he’s her boss.

**Author's Note:**

> title from "august" by taylor swift. i heard this song and this line and couldn't stop thinking about donna. aesthetic for this fic [here](https://stars-on-the-cuffs-of-her-jeans.tumblr.com/post/632804599101784064/you-are-cordially-invited-to-the-wedding-of-joshua)
> 
> all my love.


End file.
